Men’s 1,000 m podium with Ching-Yang Sung (r)
BASELGE DI PINE – Ching-Yang Sung created history for Chinese Taipei as he won a bronze medal in the Men’s 1,000m Speed Skating. This is the first time his country has won a medal at the Winter Universiade.
Chinese Taipei has a tropical climate, so there is very little chance to practice winter sports there. His homeland has only one ice rink, and not even a 400m oval that is required for his discipline. This, however, was just one of the difficulties Sung faced.
Unlike many of his competitors, he has only been skating for three years. In order to find the right coach, he, along with one other skater from Chinese Taipei, has travelled around the world. This is some achievement given that he had to fund this all himself.
As if he did not face enough challenges, at the beginning of 2013 Sung suffered a serious injury. “I was really desperate and wanted to give up,” he explained. “After taking four months off I got back to this battle. With no expectations on myself, I just focused on getting better every day.”
His perseverance paid off as he won the 500m in the Salt Lake World Cup followed by a medal in the University Games two months later. He has now added to a stellar year by writing Chinese Taipei into Universiade history.
While he could have had an easier route to this moment, Sung does not for one second wish it had been different. He was quick to emphasise this point, “I appreciate all the good and bad things that ever happened to me. They made me stronger than ever!”
Toby Fisher, FISU Young Reporter
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